Protest marches against West Roxbury pipeline end with peaceful vigil; organizers say they may have to take more direct action

By adamg on Sun, 06/14/2015 - 5:46pm

Chuck Collins explains protest against West Roxbury pipeline in front of quarry.

Groups of people opposed to the pipeline planned to run from Westwood to West Roxbury marched from West Roxbury and Dedham today and converged at Centre and Grove streets, where Spectra Energy plans to build a "metering and regulating" station to pump natural gas into National Grid's network, across from an active quarry.

Although organizers said today's marches and vigils were meant more to bond protesters and encourage the spiritual side of trying to keep the pipeline out, they said they will soon move beyond drumming and marching if need be.

Chuck Collins, already facing a vandalism charge after turning himself into E-5 detectives for painting a squiggly red line down Washington and Grove streets along the pipeline route, vowed to keep any of trucks that were surveying the proposed metering site off public roads. Several trucks were on the site last week, apparently doing soil testing; they were gone today. Some organizers hope to go to a workshop on civil disobedience downtown tomorrow.

Protesters say it is insanity to put a high-pressure gas main through a heavily populated neighborhood - and to build a transfer station across the street from a quarry that uses dynamite to blast boulders loose. And they say the pipeline's real purpose is not to help National Grid better regulate gas pressure and bring in more supplies of the fuel, but to help energy companies get the product of fracking in Pennsylvania to market in Europe.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the pipeline in March, saying the pipeline company knows what it's doing and that quarry blasting no longer results in large rocks hurtling across the street.

In West Roxbury, about 30 protesters walked from the Theodore Parker Church at Centre and Corey to the proposed metering-station site:

Neighborhoods:

West Roxbury

Dedham

Free tagging:

West Roxbury pipeline

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Comments

What's there to protest about

By anon on Sun, 06/14/2015 - 6:35pm.

What's there to protest about? Find a different hobby for Petes sake...

If you really want to know

By adamg on Sun, 06/14/2015 - 6:49pm.

Follow some of the links in the post.

Pipeline Explosions Since 2001-2011

By Ray Ray on Mon, 06/15/2015 - 3:20am.

Since 2001, natural gas pipeline explosions and other accidents have resulted in the loss of at least 45 lives and many more serious injuries, usually from burns. The list below may not be comprehensive, and there may be additional accidents, deaths and injuries that are not known to us.
March 22, 2001 - A 12-inch natural gas pipeline exploded in Weatherford, Texas on . No one was injured, but the blast created a hole in the ground about 15 feet in diameter and the explosion was felt several miles away.
May 1, 2001-A 10 inch diameter propane pipeline exploded and burned in Platte County, Missouri.
June 13, 2001 - In Pensacola, Florida, at least ten persons were injured when two natural gas lines ruptured and exploded after a parking lot gave way beneath a cement truck at a car dealership. The blast sent chunks of concrete flying across a four-lane road, and several employees and customers at neighboring businesses were evacuated. About 25 cars at the dealership and 10 boats at a neighboring business were damaged or destroyed.
August 11, 2001 - At approximately 5:05 a.m. MST a 24 inch gas pipeline failed near Williams, Arizona, resulting in the release of natural gas. The natural gas continued to discharge for about an hour before igniting.
August 19, 2000 - A 30 inch diameter natural gas pipeline rupture and fire near Carlsbad, New Mexico killed 12 members of an extended Family camping over 600 feet from the rupture point. The force of the rupture and the violent ignition of the escaping gas created a 51-foot-wide crater about 113 feet along the pipe. A 49-foot section of the pipe was ejected from the crater in three pieces measuring approximately 3 feet, 20 feet, and 26 feet in length. The largest piece of pipe was found about 287 feet northwest of the crater. The cause of the failure was determined to be severe internal corrosion of that pipeline.
September 7, 2000 - A Bulldozer ruptured a 12 inch diameter NGL pipeline on Route 36, south of Abilene, Texas. A police detective, with 21 years of service, was killed. Nearby, a woman saved herself by going underwater in her swimming pool. Her house was destroyed by the explosion & fire.
September 8, 2000 - For the second time in 24 hours, a state contractor building a noise wall along IH 475 in Toledo, Ohio struck an underground pipeline, and for a second time the contractor blamed faulty pipeline mapping for the accident. In this incident, the pipe was a six-inch gas pipeline. The crew was digging a hole with an auger for a noise-wall support when it hit the underground pipe less than 500 meters from the previous day's incident.
August 5, 2002 - A natural gas pipeline exploded and caught fire west of Rt. 622, on Poca River Road near Lanham, West Virginia. Emergency workers evacuated three or four families. Kanawha and Putnam Counties in the area were requested Shelter-In-Place. Parts of the Pipeline were thrown hundreds of yards away, around, and across Poca River. The Fire was not contained for several hours because valves to shutdown the pipeline did not exist. The orange glow from the fire at 11 PM could be seen for several miles.
February 2, 2003 - A natural gas pipeline ruptured near Viola, Illinois resulting in the release of natural gas which ignited. A l6-foot long section of the pipe fractured into three sections, which were ejected to distances of about 300 yards from the failure site.
March 23, 2003 - A 24-inch diameter gas pipeline near Eaton, Colorado exploded. The explosion sent flames 160 meters in the air and sent thousands of Weld County residents into a panic, but no one was injured. The heat from the flames melted the siding of two nearby homes and started many smaller grass fires.
July 2, 2003 - Excavation damage to a natural gas distribution line resulted in an explosion and fire in Wilmington, Delaware. A contractor hired by the city of Wilmington to replace sidewalk and curbing, dug into an unmarked natural gas service line with a backhoe. Although the service line did not leak where it was struck, the contact resulted in a break in the line inside the basement of a nearby building, where gas began to accumulate. A manager for the contractor said that he did not smell gas and therefore did not believe there was imminent danger and that he called an employee of the gas company and left a voice mail message. At approximately 1:44 p.m., an explosion destroyed two residences and damaged two others to the extent that they had to be demolished. Other nearby residences sustained some damage, and the residents on the block were displaced from their homes for about a week. Three contractor employees sustained serious injuries. Eleven additional people sustained minor injuries.
November 2, 2003 - A Texas Eastern Transmission natural gas pipeline exploded in Bath County, Kentucky, about 1.5 km south of a Duke Energy pumping station. A fire burned for about an hour before firefighters extinguished it. No one was injured and no property damage was reported.
August 21, 2004 - A natural gas explosion destroyed a residence located at in DuBois, Pennsylvania. Two residents were killed in this accident. The NTSB determined that the probable cause of the leak, explosion, and fire was the fracture of a defective butt-fusion joint.
November 8, 2004 - A NGL pipeline failed in a housing division in Ivel, Kentucky. The vapor cloud from the leak ignited, seriously burning a Kentucky State Trooper evacuating those living in the area. 8 others were injured and 5 homes were destroyed. The pipeline had 11 previous corrosion failures, and is only 65 miles long.
May 13, 2005 - An underground natural gas pipeline exploded near Marshall, Texas, sending a giant fireball into the sky and hurling a 160-foot section of pipe onto the grounds of a nearby electric power generating plant. 2 people were hurt. The OPS concluded that stress corrosion cracking was the culprit.
September 19, 2005 - A pipeline pumping station employee was killed in Monroe, Ohio, when leaking propane was ignited and exploded by an arcing pump. Flames reached 300 feet high in the following fire.
December 13, 2005 - Workers removing an underground oil tank in Bergenfield, New Jersey undermined a 1 1/4 inch steel gas pipeline. The gas line later failed, causing an explosion. Three residents of a nearby apartment building were killed. Four other residents and a tank removal worker were injured. Failure to evacuate the apartment building after the gas line ruptured was listed as a contributing factor.
July 22, 2006 - A gas pipeline ruptured, resulting in an estimated release of 42,946 MSCF of natural gas near Clay City in Clark County, Kentucky. The gas ignited, but there were no injuries, and just minor property damage. External corrosion was suspected.
October 12, 2006 - A pipeline explosion occurred when a tugboat pushing two barges hit the pipeline Thursday in West Cote Blanche Bay, about two miles from shore and 100 miles southwest of New Orleans, Louisiana. 4 crew members were killed, and 2 were missing and later presumed dead.
November 11, 2006 - A jet-black, 300-acre burn site surrounded the skeletal hulk of a bulldozer that struck a natural-gas pipeline and produced a powerful explosion 2 miles north of the Wyoming-Colorado line. The bulldozer operator was killed.
November 1, 2007 - A 12-inch propane pipeline exploded, killing two and injuring five others near Carmichael, Mississippi. The NTSB determined the probable cause was likely an ERW seam failure. Inadequate education of residents near the pipeline about the existence of a nearby pipeline and how to respond to a pipeline accident were also cited as a factors in the deaths.
February 5, 2008 - A natural gas pipeline explodes and catches fire near Hartsville, Tennessee, believed to have been caused by a tornado hitting the facility.
August 28, 2008 - A 36-inch gas pipeline fails near Stairtown, Texas causing a fire with flames 400 feet tall. The failure was caused by external corrosion.
August 29, 2008 - A 24-inch gas transmission pipeline ruptured in Cooper County, Missouri. Corrosion had caused the pipeline to lose 75% of its wall thickness in the failure area.
September 9, 2008 - Workers constructing a new pipeline hit an existing natural gas pipeline in Wheeler County, Texas.
September 14, 2008 - A 30-inch gas pipeline ruptured & gas ignited near Appomattox, Virginia. 2 homes were destroyed by the fire. External corrosion seems to be the cause of the failure.
February 1, 2009 - A gas pipeline explosion rocked the area 2 miles east of Carthage, Texas.
May 4, 2009 - A gas pipeline bursts near Hobe City, Florida on injuring 2 people on the Florida Turnpike from flying debris. The escaping gas did not ignite.
May 5, 2009 - Natural gas pipeline explodes and catches fire on near Rockville, IN in Parke County, about 24 miles north of Terre Haute, Indiana. PHMSA indicated the possibility of external corrosion in its Corrective Action Order (CAO) to the pipeline company. Pictures have been released around the area showing the damage caused. 49 homes were evacuated in a one-mile area of the explosion. No injuries reported.
November 5, 2009 - Two people were hurt when a natural gas pipeline exploded in Bushland in the Texas Panhandle. The explosion left a hole about 30 yards by 20 yards and close to 15 feet deep. The blast shook homes, melted window blinds and shot flames hundreds of feet into the air. The home nearest the blast - about 100 yards away - was destroyed. Bushland is about 15 miles west of Amarillo.
November 14, 2009 - A newly built 42-inch gas transmission pipeline near Philo, Ohio failed on the second day of operation. There was no fire, but evacuations resulted. Several indications of pipe deformation were found.
January, 2010 - A gas pipeline exploded near Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana killing a pipeline employee.
February 1, 2010 - A plumber trying to unclog a sewer line in St. Paul, Minnesota ruptured a gas service line that has been "cross bored" through the house's sewer line. The plumper & resident escaped the home moments before as an explosion and following fire destroyed the home. The Minnesota Office of Pipeline Safety ordered that gas utility, Xcel, to check for more cross bored gas lines. In the following year, 25,000 sewer lines inspected showed 57 other cross bored gas lines. In Louisville, Kentucky, 430 gas line cross bores were found in 200 miles of a sewer project, including some near schools and a hospital. The NTSB had cited such cross bore incidents as a known hazard since 1976.
March 15, 2010 - A 24-inch gas pipeline bursts, but did not ignite near Pampa, Texas.
June 7, 2010 - A 36-inch gas pipeline explosion and fire in Johnson County, Texas, was from workers installing poles for electrical lines. One worker was killed, and six were injured. Confusion over the location and status of the construction work lead to the pipeline not being marked beforehand.
June 8, 2010 - Construction workers hit an unmarked 14-inch gas gathering pipeline near Darrouzett, Texas. Two workers were killed.
August 25, 2010 - A construction crew installing a gas pipeline in Roberts County, Texas hits an unmarked pipeline on seriously burning one man.
August 27, 2010 - A LPG pipeline sprang a leak in Gilboa, New York, forcing the evacuation of 23 people.
September 9, 2010 - A high pressure gas pipeline exploded in San Bruno, CA, a suburb of San Francisco. The blast destroyed 38 homes and damaged 120 homes. Eight people died and 58 were injured. Ten acres of brush also burned. Later, PG&E was unable to supply the California Public Utilities Commission with documents on how PG&E established pressure limits on some of its gas transmission pipelines.
September 28, 2010 - A repair crew was working on a corroded gas pipe in Cairo, Georgia when the line exploded. One crew member was killed, and 3 others burned.
October 15, 2010 - A gas pipeline under construction in Grand Prairie, Texas was running a cleaning pig without a pig "trap" at the end of the pipe. The 150 pound pig was expelled from the pipeline with enough force to fly 500 feet, and crash through the side of a house. No one was injured.
November 12, 2010 - Three men working on natural gas lines were injured when a pipeline ruptured in Monroe, Louisiana.
November 30, 2010 - A 30-inch diameter gas pipeline failed at Natchitoches, Louisiana. There was no fire, but the pipeline had a Magnetic Flux smart pig test earlier in the year that indicated no flaws in the pipeline. The deadly 1965 gas pipeline accident occurred on a different pipeline owned by the same company nearby.
December 17, 2010 - A gas line fire and explosion just outside of Corpus Christi, Texas city limits left one person critically injured. A man was working on removing an abandoned pipeline when it exploded, and the man's face was severely burned.
December 28, 2010 - A pipeline at an underground gas storage facility in Covington County, Mississippi exploded forcing the evacuation of about 2 dozen families for over a week.
January 18, 2011 - A gas main being repaired in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania explodes, killing a repair crew member and injuring 6 others.
January 24, 2011 - Gas pressure regulators failed and caused a gas pressure surge in Fairport Harbor, Ohio causing gas fires in numerous homes, and one apartment. 7 homes were destroyed, and damaged 45 furnaces, 10 boilers, 19 water heaters, and 10 other gas appliances. Gas company Dominion East Ohio says it found fluids and debris in a failed regulator and is investigating how that happened.
February 10, 2011 - 5 people are killed and 8 homes are destroyed in an apparent gas explosion and fire in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The NTSB had warned UGI about cast iron gas mains needing replacement after the 1990 gas explosion in that city. Between 1976 and the date of the letter, July 10, 1992, two more gas explosions occurred. Three people were killed, 23 injured and 11 homes were destroyed or damaged in those explosions.
February 10, 2011 - A 36-inch diameter gas transmission pipeline exploded near Lisbon, Ohio. No injuries resulted.
March 17, 2011 - A 20-inch steel natural gas line running through a Minneapolis, Minnesota neighborhood ruptured and gas from it ignitied, caused evacuations to buildings nearby, and Interstate 35W was closed from downtown Minneapolis to Highway 62. There were no injuries.

And since then,

By perruptor on Mon, 06/15/2015 - 7:35am.

In 2013, there was an explosion and fire on Middlesex Turnpike in Burlington, by the end of Crosby Drive. Here is a map from last year, showing the locations of gas leaks in the city of Medford, MA.

meanwhile...

By teric on Mon, 06/15/2015 - 4:56pm.

since 2001...how many traffic deaths?

it's amazing to me there haven't been more accidents given the condition of the infrastructure.

401,299 deaths by car accident in US 2001-2011

By dnkaye on Mon, 06/15/2015 - 5:21pm.

A rough estimate, of course, to put it in perspective:

Risk of death by driving is much greater than this...it's something to do with the framework of accidents and empathy of people - which is incredibly interesting. I guess it's totally preferential, but when I choose things to protest for, this would be very low down on my priorities. Then again, i don't live there, but still;

lol

By Scumquistador on Sun, 06/14/2015 - 6:40pm.

workshop on civil disobedience lmfao

why a workshop

By mary on Mon, 06/15/2015 - 12:09pm.

Once there is a workshop and there is record of the workshop- there is no arguing from "authorities" that it was unruly or not done in a civil way- it's like taking the "Serve Safe" class for handling food - it is a well documented proof that the goal was to be civil... keep showing up in your ratty clothes and acting stupid and we'll be able to completely be cast aside as outliers instead of change makers.

felonies by accident

By Anonymous on Mon, 06/15/2015 - 3:17pm.

Absolutely. If you're going to protest by being civilly disobedient, learn the law so you don't end up with a felony charge instead of a misdemeanor. I.E. resisting arrest.

Serious questions

By roadman on Wed, 06/17/2015 - 2:54pm.

for the protestors: First, can you conclusively prove that, as proposed, this pipeline will eventually blow up? Second, if this pipeline isn't built as planned, what's your alternative to meet the needs this pipeline and station are intended to address?

Protest marches against West Roxbury pipeline end with peaceful vigil; organizers say they may have to take more direct action

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